Mateus Fernandes has been named in the Portugal U21 squad for 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Group B qualifiers with Azerbaijan and Scotland.
West Ham United’s new midfielder has been a virtual ever-present for his country’s U21 side since making his debut in a 2025 UEFA Euro U21 qualifying win over Andorra in September 2023.
The 21-year-old has won 16 caps in total, with ten of those games ending in victories, and helped Portugal reach the quarter-finals at the 2025 tournament in Slovakia.
Fernandes and his compatriots begin their qualifying campaign for the 2027 finals by hosting Azerbaijan at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos – home of Primeira Liga club Gil Vicente – in north-western Portugal on Friday 5 September at 8.30pm CEST (7.30pm BST).
They then fly north to take on Scotland at Fir Park in Motherwell on Tuesday 9 September at 7pm BST.
Group B also includes Bulgaria, Czechia and Gibraltar, with the group winners progressing to the final tournament in Albania and Serbia in June 2027, and the runners-up advancing to a play-off.
Portugal have never won the UEFA Euro U21 Championship title, but were runners-up in 1994, 2015 and 2021.
